California drivers who are scheduled to register their cars in July or later are getting a reprieve: The state won't be sending out their annual bill just yet and will waive any late July payments for at least a month. But the delay is not a gift; it is part of an effort by lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown to buy more time to negotiate a budget package that would extend higher registration fees. Under current law, the annual fee is set to drop from 1.15% of a vehicle's value to 0.65% on July 1. The difference amounts to $5 for every $1,000 a car is worth.

It appears to me that the "little people" are of no import to the politician--until the next election rolls around. The Times editorial "A Monster Legislature" (April 14), is so full of truth that it amazes me to realize how small an amount of power the average citizen has after voting a candidate into office. The "auto-insurance mess cries out" for a solution more than a "compromise." Solving the mess means reaching a solution that lowers the high cost of auto insurance which will not have 3 million California drivers going without coverage because they cannot afford insurance premiums.

Here is a profile of California drivers. It is your God given right to: 1--Run through stop signs, red traffic signals and ignore posted speed limits. 2--Always speed and make unsafe lane changes. Get there first! 3--Drive through pedestrian crosswalks. People are not important. 4--Park in between two slots because you have an expensive car. 5--Not renew car registration and not carry auto insurance. 6--Hit and run. Never stop! 7--Travel at 65 m.p.h.

A lot of people don't like to read, panic at taking a written test and have never quite understood what all those yellow lines on the road mean. Those are a lot of the folks you share the highway with in California. When it's time to take the California driver's test for a license renewal, one-third of the drivers flunk the exam given in English. Among aspiring drivers who have never taken the exam before, 50% fail. People taking the test in Spanish for renewal do even worse, with 80% flunking.

With more than 2 million Southern Californians expected to hit the freeways this holiday weekend, it's a good time to note that there are believed to be millions of uninsured drivers statewide, and officials say the number is almost certainly growing because of the gasping-for-breath economy. That can be a bad deal for the rest of us. Although most insurance policies include coverage for accidents involving uninsured drivers, you have to be able to identify the guy who hit you. If it's a hit-and-run accident, which happens all too often, you could be out of luck.

California drivers could be offered a new -- and often cheaper -- kind of car insurance next year under a voluntary pay-as-you-drive plan proposed Wednesday by Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. His plan would base annual rates partly on the exact number of miles driven and would allow people to pay less if they drive less. Poizner issued proposed regulations spelling out the plan, and the state's insurers Wednesday were enthusiastic about the idea but wanted to see more details.

About 4.5 million California drivers are being given a simple appeal: Give and let live. The soft-sell approach is for a delicate topic--donating body parts for science. The state Department of Motor Vehicles has recently begun sending out pink donor cards to millions of Californians who applied for drivers' licenses. If drivers sign the cards and place them on the backs of their licenses, critically needed parts of their bodies may be donated in the event of death if family members agree.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Transportation, in an effort to highlight the dangers of distracted driving, is sending about $1.5 million to the Sacramento area for advertising and increased police enforcement . As part of the "Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other" campaign, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced this week that the federal government would provide $2.4 million to California and Delaware to initiate pilot programs...